MAHONING COUNTY Man sues estranged wife who shot him

The Boardman woman also has criminal charges pending from the shooting. By BOB JACKSON VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER YOUNGSTOWN -- A man shot by his estranged wife last year after he'd disappeared for 20 years is suing the woman in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Benjamin R. Holmes, 50, of Fairmont Avenue, filed the suit Friday, seeking unspecified damages from Addie P. Crawley, 50, of Lockwood Boulevard, Boardman. The suit says Holmes suffered injuries when Crawley shot him Oct. 12, 2000, at her home. His lawyer, Don L. Hanni, said Holmes still has two bullets lodged in his liver and one in his kidney. Indicted by grand jury: A county grand jury indicted Crawley in January on a charge of aggravated assault. She has pleaded innocent and is awaiting trial in common pleas court. Hanni said he did not think it was necessary to wait for the criminal case to be resolved before going ahead with the civil suit. Police said Crawley had Holmes declared legally dead 12 years ago, after he'd been gone about eight years, dissolving their marriage. She has since remarried. Reappeared: Holmes resurfaced in the area last year and contacted Crawley, police said. Prosecutors say Crawley shot Holmes in a sudden passion or fit of rage, provoked by a series of threats Holmes had made against her. Crawley told police just as she was leaving for work that day, Holmes told her they were still married and he was entitled to half the contents of the house. When she told him to leave, he went upstairs and got into a bed. That's when she grabbed a .22-caliber handgun and fired toward him, police said. Crawley's attorney, James Gentile, has said the shooting was justifiable because it was in self-defense.

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